Flow of Maggots MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Insect
Abilities	Cumulative upkeep
Released	1995-06-03
Set symbol
Set name	Ice Age
Set code	ICE
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	125
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ron Spencer

Key Takeaways

Grants continuous presence on the board, pressuring opponents with its regeneration ability and demanding multiple resources to be dealt with.
Synergizes with creature-sacrificing effects, enhancing combo potential and indirectly contributing to resource acceleration in the game.
Instant speed regeneration allows strategic responses to removal attempts, providing tempo control and sustained board threat.

Text of card

Cumulative Upkeep: o1 Cannot be blocked by non-wall creatures.

"The very earth seemed alive and made a sound like the writhing of the damned." —Lucilde Fiksdotter, Leader of the Order of the White Shield

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Flow of Maggots often ensures that you keep a creature on the board, contributing to card advantage by requiring multiple resources from your opponent to deal with it. Every turn it’s left unchecked, it can deter single-target removal spells, giving you an edge in resource duels.

Resource Acceleration: Although not providing direct mana acceleration, this card synergizes with effects that benefit from the sacrifice of creatures. In decks designed with this synergy in mind, Flow of Maggots can indirectly contribute to resource acceleration by enabling powerful interactions and combos.

Instant Speed: While Flow of Maggots operates at sorcery speed, the regeneration ability it confers to itself can be activated at instant speed. This means you can respond to your opponent’s moves, making the card a resilient threat that can withstand attempts to remove it during your opponent’s turn, effectively causing a tempo swing in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Flow of Maggots requires you to sacrifice a creature each turn to maintain its presence on the battlefield. This downside can be particularly taxing when you’re already under pressure or lacking a steady stream of creatures to feed its upkeep.

Specific Mana Cost: The card necessitates a strict commitment to black mana, making it less flexible for multi-colored decks that may not consistently have the required mana type available when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With three black mana required to cast this creature, it’s considered a significant investment, especially when compared to other creatures in the same mana range that could potentially provide immediate impact or synergize better with your deck’s strategy.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Flow of Maggots is a unique creature card that can adapt to various playing styles. Its inherent resilience through regeneration allows it to be a dependable blocker or an aggressive attacker in different deck builds.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with effects that benefit from or mitigate the upkeep cost, as well as those that capitalize on creatures surviving combat. It can fit seamlessly into strategies that use life as a resource or thrive on maintaining a board presence.

Meta-Relevance: Against decks that rely heavily on combat to win, Flow of Maggots can be a persistent threat. Its ability to consistently regenerate makes it a noteworthy addition in environments where removal spells are less prevalent, allowing it to hold its position on the battlefield turn after turn.

How to beat

Flow of Maggots is an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering with a regenerative ability that keeps it lingering on the battlefield. This makes it challenging to remove through damage or combat. However, this resilient card can be outmaneuvered with strategic play. Removing it without inflicting damage is key, so consider using spells that force sacrifice, like Diabolic Edict, or exile it from play, with tools such as Path to Exile. Both methods circumvent its regeneration capability.

Another effective tactic is to apply -1/-1 counters or effects that diminish its toughness to zero or less, as seen with cards like Grasp of Darkness. Notably, the regeneration ability won’t save it from such effects, making this an efficient way to clear Flow of Maggots from the board. Adaptation is essential, so when facing decks leveraging this pesky creature, include such answers in your deck to ensure you don’t get overwhelmed by the relentless tide of maggots.

Ultimately, being prepared and aware of Flow of Maggots’ strengths and weaknesses will allow you to maintain control. With the right tools and timing, you can prevent your opponent from capitalizing on its resilience, keeping your path to victory clear.

Cards like Flow of Maggots

Flow of Maggots stands out in the realm of creature cards with its unique self-regenerative ability. Within Magic: The Gathering, there’s a small cohort of creatures that share some similarity, such as the tenacious Serrated Scorpion which also has a form of resilience through its death-triggered ability, granting the player a minor life swing. However, unlike Serrated Scorpion, Flow of Maggots doesn’t directly impact life totals upon leaving the field.

Another card worth comparing is Reassembling Skeleton. This card provides repeated value by coming back to the battlefield from the graveyard, akin to the persistent survivability evident in Flow of Maggots. The Skeleton’s return is a controlled action and requires an investment of mana, while Flow of Maggots returns only if it hasn’t been targeted by spells or abilities, highlighting the passive yet conditional resilience of the Maggots.

Assessing the utility of these resilient creatures, it’s clear that Flow of Maggots provides ongoing board presence under specific conditions, making it a card that can repeatedly frustrate opponents who lack the right removal tools. Its self-sustaining nature lends a strategic edge in attrition-based matches within the game.

Reassembling Skeleton - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Flow of Maggots by color, type and mana cost

Mischievous Poltergeist - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Flow of Maggots MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Flow of Maggots and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Flow of Maggots has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Flow of Maggots card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2008-10-01	Paying cumulative upkeep is always optional. If it’s not paid, the permanent with cumulative upkeep is sacrificed. Partial payments of the total cumulative upkeep cost can’t be made. For example, if a permanent with “cumulative upkeep ” has three age counters on it when its cumulative upkeep ability triggers, it gets another age counter and then its controller chooses to either pay or sacrifice the permanent.